Urgent Need for Volunteers | Parent Society Elbow River Casino Night Fundraiser - Nov. 18 and 19

Volunteers needed! Please check the volunteer sign-up page and consider donating your time to help our school raise much-needed funds. This is our biggest fundraiser and really makes a huge difference for our school and kids. 

We only have this opportunity to run the casino once every two years, making this chance to raise funds extremely important for our school. Currently, we don’t have enough volunteers to proceed, which would be a huge loss. We need to fill several positions over these two days. No experience is necessary, and food will be provided during your shift.  

Please consider signing up for a shift with a friend! It’s a great opportunity to enjoy some food, connect with other parents, and help raise funds for our school community.  Thank you for your support! 

On Behalf of Rideau Park Parent Society Executive 

Road Closure starting November 1 | Mission Bridge Rehabilitation Project 

Mission Bridge will be closed to all motor vehicle traffic as of Friday, November 1.  Pedestrians & wheelers (bikes & scooters) will be able to access the bridge.   

If you drive your child to school:   

• Allow extra time if driving your child to school to account for lane reductions & detours 
• Follow any posted detour signs for your safety & the safety of construction crews 
• If wheeling: dismount bikes & scooters when using the bridge sidewalk 
• Plan for an alternate drop off point north of the river, such as 
• • Elbow Drive & 32 Ave SW to use the footbridge 
  • Elbow Drive & 4^th St SW, then walk across Mission Bridge 

Mission Bridge will be closed to vehicle traffic for rehabilitation work for approximately 6 months. 

The City of Calgary is currently working on Mission Bridge to rehabilitate it and extend its service life by about 35 years. This means there may be some impacts for you this year when dropping off or picking up your child and your child's route to/from home if they are walking or wheeling to school. Please keep the following in mind: 

If you'd like to stay informed on the project, you can visit the project page where construction updates, current detours, closures, lane reductions and other impacts are posted.  

Thank You’s - Halloween Activities 

Thank you to the Rideau Park Parent Association representatives Jenny Swift and Krista Teare for organizing the Family Halloween Dance.  It was wonderful to see so many families at the dance. 

Thank you also to the parent and student volunteers whose efforts made the event run smoothly and to Mr Long who coordinated the student volunteers. 

The Pumpkin Carving Contest had such creative and spooky entries this year.  Congratulations to the prize winners: Kostia M. – Grade 5, Alexandra L. – Grade 3, Jaeda L. – Grade 5  

Donations - Veterans Food Bank, Nov. 4 - 7 

Help Rideau Park School combat hunger by sending non-perishable food items with your child to donate to the Veterans Food Bank this November. Collections of non-perishable food items will begin on Monday, November 4, and will continue up until the day of our Remembrance Day Ceremony (Thursday, November 7). Students can drop off donations at the office or directly to food bank box at the PE foyer. We thank you for your support. 

Invitation - Remembrance Assembly, Nov. 7 

Families and friends of Rideau Park School are welcome to attend the Remembrance Ceremony on Thursday, November 7. Parent and guest seating will begin at 9:50 am. 

Winter Greenery and Poinsettia Fundraiser 

We are pleased to partner with Growing Smiles & Devry Greenhouses for our annual Winter Greenery & Poinsettia Fundraiser. 

All proceeds will be used to support student programs at Rideau Park School. 

Order with this link:  Winter Greenery & Poinsettia Fundraiser 

Lost & Found Items 

Our Lost & Found is overflowing with clothing items: jackets, sweaters, sweatshirts, shoes, boots, mittens, gloves and hats. There are also quite a few lunch items: lunch boxes & water bottles. 

If your child has lost some clothing or lunch items, please ask them to check the lost and found. November 5 is the target date to pack up unclaimed items for donation.

Social Networking Safety - Student and Parent Presentations 

Paul Davis is an expert on the topic of social networking safety.  He will be speaking with our students on Thursday, November 14 on this topic. Students in Grades 4 to 9 will be participating in the assembly with Paul Davis to learn more about social networking safety. 

At 6:30 pm, Paul Davis will be presenting to parents on the social networking topic and how to promote safe habits with their children. The parent presentation will take place in the gym.  All parents are invited to attend. 

Parent-Teacher Conferences 

Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up at the end of November.  They are scheduled for: 

• Friday, November 22, 1:15 – 3:30 pm – virtual appointments, Grades 7 to 9 only 
• Thursday, November 28, 4:15 – 8:00 pm – in-person appointments, all grades 
• Friday, November 29: 9:00 am – 11:50 am – in person appointments, all grades and 1:00 – 3:30 pm – virtual appointments, all grades 

Appointments can be made via MyCBE.  Technical support to navigate to the booking system and schedule appointments with your child’s / children’s teacher can be found on the Technical Support page.

The booking system will open on Monday, November 18 at 10:00 am for scheduling an appointment(s).  

School Immunization Program 

A team of school health nurses will be at the school to administer immunizations on Monday, November 25. Only students who return the consent forms will be administered an immunization. Questions about this year’s immunizations can be directed to Ms. Cochran, who can put you in touch with our school’s health nurse as needed.   

Fun Lunch, Healthy Hunger on behalf of RPS’ Parent Society 

The Rideau Park Parent Association is once again coordinating bi-monthly ‘Fun Lunch’ with Healthy Hunger.  This is also a great fundraiser for the school with a portion of sales being returned to the school.  Participation is completely voluntary with a variety of healthy lunch vendors to choose from. 

Parent Volunteer Opportunity

for each fun lunch Thursday, parent volunteers are needed to help sort orders and deliver to classrooms.  Time commitment is about an hour, with the start time at 11:00 am.  If available to help on one or some Thursdays, you must complete the annual volunteer registration, which includes a valid Police Information Clearance. 

Volunteers are needed for: 

• November 7 – 1 volunteer needed 
• December 5 – 1 volunteer needed 
• December 19 – 2 volunteers needed 

Sign Up to volunteer for the above dates and/or future dates.  

School Drop-off & Pick-Up - Important Safety Notice for Parents 

Please be advised that due to increasing safety concerns of neighborhood residents and our student community, policing of city bylaws relating to parking and traffic restrictions will be more strictly enforced in the coming months. Unfortunately, there is no car-accessible front door drop-off nor parking availability directly at our school entrance. 

Be aware that Rideau Road Back Alley access (off 30 Ave SW) is NOT permitted for student drop-off. Alley access is for residents and Rideau staff ONLY. Please respect our neighbours. 

More information, including a map with the drop-off loop visit our Parking page.

Looking Ahead – Calendar of events